Lambert, Clara F.

English

James Madison University

March, 1925] THE VIRGINIA TEACHER much as we would have done under the same circumstances. We teachers of geography know that the names of capes and mountains will fade from the student's mind, that many of the rivers and capitals will melt into an indis- tinct haze—that many, perhaps most of the facts will be gone from our students when, at thirty-five or fifty-five years of age they turn their minds into the resistless sea of public opinion and their votes into the bal- lot box that decides some world crisis. We, the teachers of geography, should realize that the frequently recurring opportunities of the geography class means this—that to us more than to all other social agencies combined, is given the power to decide whether the future act of the voter shall be an act of respect or disrespect, of sympathy or antagonism, of understanding or ignor- ant prejudice—whether war shall wreck us all or whether we shall put it into the limbo where now the personal duel resides— buried by a better method. Now that a bet- ter way is established the gentleman finds that he can get along perfectly well without puncturing his fellowman with a rapier or a bullet. This opportunity of the geography teach- er is made even greater than it seems by the fact that most adult activities are bent to- ward the realization of desires conceived before the age of fifteen years. J. Russell Smith A university residence hall is neither a rabbit warren, a barracks, nor a boarding- house. It is a center of college and univer- sity life and influence, where no inconsider- able part of the student's education is to be gained by contact with fellow-students and where he contributes to and shares in that college life and college spirit which, how- ever elusive and difficult to define, are powerful factors in fashioning the mind and character of the American college student —Nicholas Murray Butler SHOULD THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS BE MADE A NATIONAL PARK A SOCIAL SCIENCE PROBLEM FOR THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL TRAINING for citizenship is the gen- eral aim of the social studies which have become the backbone of the cur- riculum as a result of the nation-wide sur- vey by Dr. Edgar Dawson and individual investigators. Such abilities, inclinations, and ideals as will enable the youth to take his place in a rapidly changing society must be developed. He must be trained to at- tack a problem, investigate and organize evidence, and to withhold judgment until all evidence is collected; he should be able to trace the effects of past events upon social living today; he should realize the growing interdependence of all countries; he should understand major contemporary problems and his part in solving them.1 A heavy responsibility rests upon the teacher to choose such problems as will carry out this aim. After choosing the problem she must find a means to arouse interest in it. A good scheme for doing this is to make a local problem the point of con- tact. As an example of this I shall con- sider the problem of conservation. Experts tell us that our coal supply may not last one hundred years, that our oil may not last fifty years, and that a million square miles of timber have been cut down and not re- placed. This is a problem of national in- terest that should be given careful study. In looking for a local approach to this problem the teacher will find that the news- papers are a great aid. Virginia news- papers are now featuring the fight waged in Congress to put a national park in the Blue Ridge Mountain. The valley people are en- thusiastic over it; the mountain people want to retain their homes. But other sections, 1. Report of Committee on social studies in the junior high school. 76 THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. 6, No. 3 as Smoky Mountain in Tennessee, want the park. The fact that former Secretary of Agriculture Wallace once recommended that the Smoky Mountain section be made a national forest enlarges the problem to a consideration of both parks and forests. Where shall this problem be placed in the school? The new course of study for the junior high schools of Virginia has not yet been completed and there is so much va- riation in existing courses of study that it is hard to place this problem. Many lead- ing educators point to the ninth grade, or the last year of the junior high school, as the most suitable. Harold Rugg, Earle Ruggj and Emma Schweppe devote one pamphlet for the ninth grade of their "So- cial Science Pamphlets" (as worked out in Columbia University) to this problem. Mr. R. W. Hatch, instructor in citizenship in the Horace Mann School, and Dr. Daniel C. Knowlton of Teachers College, Colum- bia University, provide the following plan for the ninth grade: History: A survey of modern world re- lationships. Geography: A world survey; expanding commercial interests. Civics : Elementary social, political, and economic problems. Courses of study for city schools, as Nor- folk, provide for social problems of this type in the ninth grade. The teacher has the privilege of using it where she thinks best, but, in all probability, the new course of study will provide a place for such prob- lems in the ninth grade. PROBLEM Secretary of the Interior Weeks has rec- ommended to Congress that the Blue Ridge Mountain or the Smoky Mountain be made a national park; former Secretary of Agri- culture Wallace recommended at one time that Smoky Mountain be made a national forest. The cattlemen living in the section protest against the government's taking the land. Should the Blue Ridge Mountain be made a national forest, a national park, or left as it is ? I. A comparison of our national forests with the Blue Ridge area will deter- mine whether this section is adapted for use as a national forest A. Study of the Shenandoah National Forest brings out these facts about national forests. 1. The Shenandoah National Forest in- cludes the Massanutten Mountain in Virginia, the North Mountain and the Shenandoah Mountain in Virginia and West Virginia. 2. This land was made into a national for- est for these purposes :2 a. To prevent flood damage and ob- struction of navigation along the great rivers which head in the southern Appalachians. b. To permit the conservative develop- ment of water power resources. c. To encourage municipal water de- velopment. d. To permanently support an import- ant share of our national forests products industries. e. To serve as an object lesson where private owners may see and ap- praise the results of applied fores- tiy. f. To serve as a mountain vacation land for the massed populations of the east and south. g. To protect and develop scenic and aesthetic values. h. To protect game and fish. i. To take care of small industries de- pendent on the forest. 3. The government secured this land un- der Weeks Law, March, 1911. It was /Letter from Secretary Wallace to the Bureau of the Budget, pursuant to circular No. 49 of that bureau, and returned to the Department of Agri- culture under date of May 2, 1924. March, 1925] THE VIRGINIA TEACHER 77 bought from private owners at an av- erage cost of $3 an acre. Total cost was $410,000. (Other national forests were made from public domain.) 4. The forest is handled in the following manner :3 a. It is under the administration of the Department of Agriculture. b. Forest officers get their position through a civil service examination and promotion in rank. c. A forest supervisor, a man of ex- perience in woods work, road and trail building, the stock business, and in all kinds of work carried on in the forest, plans work in his for- est under the supervision of the dis- trict forester and supervises the ex- ecution of the plans. d. A forest assistant carries out the work under the direction of the su- pervisor. After two years of satis- factory service, he becomes a for- est examiner, who examines and maps areas, designates timber to be cut in sales, surveys boundaries, and conducts nursery work and forest planting. e. The rangers carry out the routine work of supervising timber sales, grazing, building roads, trails, bridges, telephone lines, etc. Only men who are physically sound, who have endurance, and who know how to pack supplies and find food for themselves and horses are chosen. f. Fire wardens are stationed at look- out posts to report fires. B. The section of the Blue Ridge Moun-. tain under discussion meets the fore- going standards for a national forest in the following ways: 1. It is located in the Blue Ridge Moun- tains between Front Royal on the north 3How the Public Forests are Handled. (Sep- arate circular No. 847, from Yearbook of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1920.) and Waynesboro on the south. It lies in the following counties: Warren, Fauquier, Rappahannock, Page, Madi- son, Greene, Rockingham, Augusta, and Albemarle. It is about one hun- dred miles in length and averages nine miles in width. 2. All the reasons for the establishment of the Shenandoah National Forest ap- ply to this section. II. A comparison of our national parks with this Blue Ridge area will de- termine whether this section is adapt- ed for use as a national park. A. Our national parks were created to preserve certain unusual features.4 1. Yellowstone (northwest Wyoming) — more geysers than in all the rest of the world together, boiling springs, mud volcanoes, petrified forests, grand can- yon of the Yellowstone, large lakes, large streams and waterfalls, greatest preserve of wild animals in the world, and trout streams. 2. Hot Springs (middle Arkansas) — forty-five hot springs possessing cura- tive properties. 3. Sequoia (middle eastern California) — several hundred sequoia trees over ten feet in diameter, some twenty-five to thirty-six feet in diameter, towering mountain ranges, mile-long cave. 4. Yosemite (middle eastern California) ■—-valley of world famed beauty, lofty cliffs, waterfalls, three groves of big trees, high Sierra, and waterwheel falls. 5. General Grant (middle eastern Cali- fornia)—General Grant tree, thirty- five feet in diameter. 6. Mount Ranier (west central Washing- ton)—twenty-eight glaciers, forty- eight square miles of glacier, fifty to iRules and regulations of our national parks, 19 booklets published by the Department of the In- terior, 1924. 78 THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. 6, No. 3 one hundred feet thick, and beautiful sub-alpine flowers. 7. Crater Lake (southwestern Oregon) — lake of extraordinary blue in crater of extinct volcano with sides a thousand feet high and interesting lava forma- tions. 8. Wind Cave (South Dakota)—cavern having many miles of galleries and pe- culiar formations. 9. Platt (southern Oklahoma)—many sulphur and other springs possessing medicinal value. 10. Sullys Hill (North Dakota)—wood, streams, lake, important wild animal preserve. 11. Mesa Verde (southwestern Colorado) —most noted and best preserved cliff dwellings in the U. S., if not in the world. 12. Glacier (northwestern Montana) — rugged mountain region of Alpine character, two hundred fifty glacier- fed lakes, sixty small glaciers, and precipices thousands of feet deep, 13. Rocky Mountain (north middle Colo- rado)—heart of the Rockies, snowy ranges, high peaks, and records of the glacier period. 14. Hawaii—three separate areas—Kilauae and Mauna Loa on Hawaii and Halea- kea on Maui. 15. Lassen Volcanic (northern California) —only active volcano in the U. S. proper, Lassen peak—10,465 feet, Cin- der Cone, Hot Springs, and mud gey- sers. 16. Mt. McKinley (south central Alaska) —highest mountain in North America, rises higher above the surrounding country than any other mountain in the world. 17. Grand Canyon (north central Arizona) —the greatest example of erosion and the most sublime spectacle in the world. 18. Lafayette (Maine coast)—the group of granite mountains upon Mount Des- ert Island. 19. Zion (southwestern Utah)—magnifi- cent gorge, depth from eight hundred to two thousand feet, precipitous walls. B. The following facts make it desirable for the Blue Ridge tract to be made into a national park.5 1. These special features would attract the tourist. a. Numerous mountain peaks over four thousand feet high. b. White Oak Canyon—a stream of water running through one district with magnificent beauty. c. Kettle Canyon—Raven Rock Cliffs. d. Dry Run Canyon—two beautiful waterfalls. e. Hughes River. f. Nigger Run—three miles of fine falls and cataracts. g. Many nameless canyons and gorges —a thousand miles of trout streams. h. Many varieties of hard timber that have never been touched with the axe. i. A swamp of rhododendrons over a mile in length and hemlock trees one hundred twenty-five feet in height along the head waters of the Rapidan. j. Many waterfalls—around Skyland, Hawksbill Fall, Fort Hollow Falls, Deep Falls, k. Weyers Cave, Luray Caverns, End- less Caverns, Shenandoah Caverns, Massanutten Caverns are within close range of the Blue Ridge sec- tion. 1. Shenandoah and Massanutten Na- tional Forest Reserves are located near the proposed site. 5"A National Park near the Nation's Capital"— Northern Virginia Park Association, Skyland, Virginia. ' March, 1925] THE VIRGINIA TEACHER 79 m. A scenic railroad could be built along the backbone of the mountain giving extensive views of the valley —three thousand feet below, n. The park would command a view of hallowed ground of immortal Americans; Washington, Monroe, Madison, Jefferson, Wilson, Lewis, and Clark lived within a few miles of the section. 2. The following public advantages would attend the location of a national park in this section: a. It would preserve a virgin forest area and a permanent bird and game refuge. b. It would insure a water supply to districts eastward. c. It would be the only park within a few hours' and a few dollars' jour- ney of thirty-five million people in our eastern cities. d. It is only three hours' ride from the nation's capital. e. Two great highways, the Lee High- way, from Washington to Califor- nia, and the Spottswood Trail, from the Shenandoah Valley to Rich- mond, pass through it. f. Four great railroads, the Chesa- peake and Ohio at the south, the Baltimore and Ohio and the South- ern at the north, and the Norfolk and Western at the west, make it accessible. 3. It would increase the prosperity of Vir- ginia. a. Great numbers of tourists visiting the territory would tend to encour- age better roads, double-track rail- roads, the opening up of new terri- tory, increased consumption and demand for the products of farm and factory, orchard, dairy, and breeding stable; greater demand for labor, steady increase in real es- tate values, and decided benefit to trade. b. More and better hotels would open. c. Outside capital invested and spent in the state would lower the taxes. d. Virginia would become renowned as the playground of the nation. e. The federal government would ex- pend large sums in the development of the area. HI. These objections to a national forest or a national park may influence the government to leave the land as it is. A. There are these objections to a na- tional park: 1. If the state bought the land, it would mean an increase of taxes all over the state. 2. Twenty-two cattlemen protest at the government's taking the land, for it would deprive them of land needed in their livestock industry. 3. It would throw out of their homes a thrifty class of people who are not fitted to settle anywhere else. 4. Compensation by the government would not amount to half what the land is worth to the present owners. 5. Control of the park with two highways running through it would be difficult. B. There are these objections to a na- tional forest: 1. The Department of Agriculture pays only a small sum for land for national forests, and this land is very expensive. 2. National forests consist of land fitted only for raising timber, and this is val- uable grazing land. IV. Conclusion: The Blue Ridge area is too valuable and contains too much grazing land to he made into a national forest. But it is fitted to become a national park because: 1. The natural features are unusual. 80 THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. 6, No. 3 2. The government having decided to place a national park in the east, south of the Pennsylvania boundary line, this site will be convenient to the largest number of people. 3. Tourists with their money will flock to the valley to compensate for any in- crease of taxes, and 4. The industrious habits of the people who are thrown out of their homes will fit them to supply the shortage of farmers in the valley. The above outline is merely a suggestion of what the teacher's outline may be in pre- paring such a problem. The pupils may de- velop it quite differently and should be en- couraged to follow up their own ideas. If the teacher has the material well organized in her own mind, it will be easy to guide the ideas presented by the class. This problem offers abundant opportunity for the pupil to do the major part of the work. Maps illustrating parks and forests must be selected, a map of the section of the Blue Ridge Mountain could be colored, clippings should be posted on the bulletin board, a committee may visit the forest of- ficers, reports may be made on the parks, and letters must be written to all sources of information to get the desired material. The following material is necessary: Department of Agriculture: No. 211—Government Forest Work April, 1922. Forests and Forestry in the V. S.  Report for distribution at the Brazil Cen- tennial Exposition, 1922-23. Putting Wood Waste to Work—irom Yearbook, 1920. A Primer of Forestry No. 173—Part I. The Forest—Re- print of February 8, 1911. No. 348—Part II. Practical Fores- try—Mzy 13, 1909. No. 886—Timber: Mine or Crop  from Yearbook, 1922. Report of the Forester, October 4, 1923. Maps: Shenandoah National Forest, 1920. National Forests, State Forests, Na- tional Monuments and Indian Reserva- tions, 1924. Forest Regions of the U. S., 1924. Traveling exhibits of commercially im- portant woods of the United States with related data. Films, loaned free of charge, except for transportation both ways, illustrating all phases of forestry. Department of the Interior; Nineteen booklets presenting the rules and regulations of the different parks 1924. Council on National Parks, Forests, and Wild Life, 233 Broadway, N. Y.: A Policy for National and State Parks, Forests, and Game Refuges. Clara F. Lambert THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE A HISTORY-GEOGRAPHY UNIT FOR THE FOURTH GRADE [The new course of study for Virginia's ele- mentary schools encourages the teacher's use of ,?..uPlts- But such teaching presupposes either ^ organization or ready-made units. The i1 neno, a? r profits "l034 in organizing a new unit, the classroom teacher is generally so busy that she is eager for help in the way of already- collected materials. For that reason The Vir- ginia Teacher expects to publish a series of big plans worked up by students teaching in the Training School at Harrisonburg.] I. What the children will do. A. They will read stories -and facts about Spottswood in: 1. Cooke, Stories of the Old Dominion pp. 82-93. 2 132giI1' Hist0ry Vir9inia' PP- 125- 

Should the Blue Ridge Mountains Be Made a National Park

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Should the Blue Ridge Mountains Be Made a National Park

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